From “Star Wars” to Hello Kitty: The World’s Best Aircraft Paint Jobs

The livery designs on these one-of-a-kind airplanes are everything but boring.

Article Continues Below Ad

share this article

It’s not uncommon for airlines to roll out a fleet of freshly painted planes, like when Hawaiian Airlines introduced an updated version of it iconic "Pualani" logo in 2017, or even more recently when WestJet debuted a sleek new look earlier in June. But every now and then, airlines will send a one-of-a-kind livery—or aircraft design—down the runway to celebrate a partnership with a local brand or a flight destination. Here are some of the most fun special aircraft livery designs in the air today.

Courtesy of Finnair

Finnair features Marimekko prints on several of its aircraft.

Finnair Marimekko “Kivet” Livery

All Finnair flights feature prints from the Finnish-brand Marimekko on the blankets, pillows, tableware, and amenity kits used on board. But if you’re lucky, you could find yourself on the Airbus A350 seen here “wearing” Marimekko’s Kivet dot print, or an Airbus A330 with the classic Unikko poppy print.

Courtesy of Qantas

This is the fifth design in Qantas’s flying art series.

Qantas “Emily Kame Kngwarreye” Livery

In February 2018, Qantas debuted the fifth design in its Flying Art series that honors Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. The livery of the new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner features a design inspired by “Yam Dreaming,” a painting by Emily Kame Kngwarreye, a late Anmatyerre artist from the Northern Territory.

Photo by Blue Stahli Luân/Flickr

EVA Air flies seven different Sanrio-themed aircraft.

EVA Air Hello Kitty “Hand-in-Hand” Livery

EVA Air started flying its Hello Kitty “Hand-in-Hand” jet between Taipei and Los Angeles three times a week in March 2018. The Boeing 777-300ER features 19 Sanrio characters including Hello Kitty, Little Twin Stars, Cinnamoroll, and Badtz-Maru, just to name a few. EVA Air’s love of Hello Kitty runs deep—it flies six more planes featuring other Hello Kitty and Sanrio characters on routes within Asia.

Courtesy of Southwest Airlines

The pelican designs on "Louisiana One" are inspired by the state flag.

Southwest Airlines “Louisiana One” Livery

To celebrate 39 years of Southwest service in New Orleans, the airline unveiled a Boeing 737-700 livery in March 2018 inspired by the Louisiana state flag. Louisiana One is the 12th Southwest plane that takes design elements from various state flags, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Texas, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, and Tennessee.

Courtesy of Brussels Airlines

Brussels Airlines painted this Airbus A320 to look like the shark submarine from a Tintin story.

Brussels Airlines Tintin “Rackham” Livery

Brussels Airlines put one of Belgium’s most famous cartoon characters—Tintin—on the livery of an Airbus A320 back in 2015. Designed to look like the shark submarine from the Tintin adventure “Red Rackham’s Treasure” on the outside, the plane also features images of Tintin and Captain Haddock on the interiors, along with copies of the book on board. The “Rackham” livery will fly on various routes through Europe until 2019.

Courtesy of ANA

ANA flies several “Star Wars”-themed planes.

ANA Star Wars Livery

You might not be able to fly in the Millennium Falcon, but you can book a trip to Tokyo in one of these ANA aircrafts designed to look like your favorite robots from Star Wars, including R2-D2, C-3PO, and BB-8.

Courtesy of Frontier Airlines

All of Frontier’s aircraft have a different animal on their tails.

Frontier Airlines “Grizwald the Bear” Livery

Denver’s low-cost carrier, Frontier Airlines, revamped its livery back in 2014 by rolling out a freshly painted fleet of Airbuses featuring a new green logo and a different animal on each plane’s tail. We’re particularly fond of the Airbus A320 dubbed “Grizwald the Bear.”

Icelandair has several special livery designs featuring natural wonders found in Iceland, but the most beautiful one has to be the “Hekla Aurora” Boeing 757, which is not only wrapped in photographs of the northern lights on the outside, but also illuminated with LED mood-lighting to mimic the aurora borealis on the inside.

Photo by Mark Harkin/Wikimedia Commons

Air Malta introduced a new version of the livery seen here with Nickelodeon characters in June 2018.

Air Malta “Nickelodeon” Livery

Air Malta rebranded its fleet with a colorful new design featuring the Maltese Cross on the tail, seen here, some years ago. But a brand-new Airbus A320neo made its debut in June 2018 with a special Nickelodeon-theme livery, featuring characters like SpongeBob SquarePants and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, to promote the Nickelodeon Treasure Hunt that is taking place in Malta in April 2019.